I took notes on this chapter, and it took me forever. I thought I might as well post this and you will find it to be pretty thorough. I tried uploading it, but it was too big of an attachment. I had important terms highlighted, and I don't think they show up on here.
This is only the first half of the chapter, since it wouldn't let me post all of it. If you want the rest, email me at [email protected]" class="bb-email">[email protected] and I will email the rest of it to you. I included the Makers of America section in it, too. I hope this helps someone!
Chapter 27—The Path of Empire
1890—1899
1) Intro
a) Am. indifferent after civil war to outside world because absorbed in:
i) Reconstruction, healing wounds of war, building industrial economy, making cities habitable, settling west
b) Late 1800s witnessed momentous shift in U.S. policy.
i) Am.’s real diplomacy reflected the far-reaching changes that were reshaping agriculture, industry, and the social structure
ii) Am. concerned about scramble of other nations for international advantage in the dawning “age of empire”
c) By end of century, Am. would become an imperial power
2) Imperialist Stirrings
a) Developments that fed the nation’s ambition for overseas expansion included:
i) Farmers and factory owners began to look beyond Am. shores as agricultural land industrial production boomed
ii) Americans believed Am. had to expand or explode
iii) New sense of power generated by robust growth in population, wealth, and productive capacity
iv) Hammer blows of labor violence and agrarian unrest
v) Overseas markets might provide safety-valve to relieve these pressures
vi) Yellow press described foreign exploits as manly adventures
vii) Missionaries, inspired by Josiah Strong’s Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis, looked overseas for new converts
viii) Roosevelt & Congressman Lodge interpreted Darwinism to mean that the earth belonged to the strong and the fit
ix) Late comers to colonial scramble:
(1) Africa partitioned by Europeans in1880s
(2) In 1890s Japan, Germany, & Russia all extorted concessions from Chinese Empire
(3) **If Am. survive, needs to become imperial power, too
x) New steel navy focused attention overseas (Thayer’s The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 argued control of sea key to dominance)
b) Am.’s new international interest manifested in many ways:
i) Blaine (Sec. of State) pushed “Big Sister Policy” to rally Latin American nations behind U.S. leadership and open Latin American markets to Yankee traders. Result: Modest success in 1889, when presided over 1st Pan-American Conference
(1) Vague plan for economic cooperation through reciprocal tariff reduction
(2) Blazed way for long and important series of inter-American assemblages
ii) Diplomatic crises or near-wars
(1) America v. Germany (1889 over Samoan Islands in South Pacific)
(2) America v. Italy (1891 over lynching of 11 Italians in New Orleans…Am. paid compensation)
(3) American v. Chile (1892 over deaths of 2 Am. sailors in Valparaiso port…Am. forced Chile to pay indemnity)
(4) American v. Canada (1893 over seal hunting near Pribilof Islands off Alaska coast…resolved by arbitration)
iii) Am. new aggressive nation mood
3) Monroe’s Doctrine and the Venezuelan Squall
a) Anti-British feeling flared 1895-1896 over Venezuela
i) Over 50 yrs. boundary between Brit. Guiana & Venezuela in dispute
(1) Venezuelans: extravagant claims, urged arbitration
(2) Discovery of gold discovered in area faded hopes of peace
ii) Pres. Cleveland decided on strong protest
(1) Richard Olney, Sec. of State, declared to Britain that by trying to dominate Ven. in the quarrel and acquire new territory, they were flouting Monroe Doctrine…London should submit dispute to arbitration, U.S. now calls tune in Western Hemi.
(2) Brits denied relevance of Monroe Doctrine & spurned arbitration
(3) Cleveland mad; urged appropriation for commission of experts to settle boundary; if British didn’t accept, U.S. would fight
(4) 2nd thoughts on both sides
(a) Brits: annoyed, but no urge to fight; Canada was vulnerable, Brit. marine vulnerable to Am. commerce raiders; Russia & France unfriendly; German Kaiser Wilhelm II about to challenge Brit. naval supremacy
(5) German kaiser (emperor) increased chances of peaceful solution when congratulated Boers who captured Brit. raiding party
(a) London now consented to arbitration
(b) Final decision: Brit. got bulk of land the claimed from the start
iii) Results of dispute:
(1) Prestige of Monroe Doctrine enhanced
(2) Europe believed claim of Am. power in W. Hemi
(3) Latin Americans pleased by determination of U.S. to protect them
(4) Anglo-American cordiality became a cornerstone of both nation’s foreign policies as 1900s opened
4) Spurning the Hawaiian Pear
a) Hawaii attracted attention of Am.: way station and provisioning point for Yankee shippers, sailors, and whalers
i) In 1820 missionaries did well and Honolulu was like a New England town
b) Am. became to regard Hawaii as extension of their own coastline, and in 1840s, the State Department warned other powers away
i) 1875—commercial reciprocity agreement
ii) 1887—treaty with the native gov’t guaranteeing priceless naval-base rights at Pearl Harbor
c) Trouble, economic & political, brewing
i) Sugar cultivation went sour in 1890 when McKinley Tariff raised barriers against the Hawaiian product
ii) White planters saw best way to overcome tariff was to annex Hawaii to U.S.
iii) Queen Liliuokalani blocked ambition;
iv) Desperate whites successfully revolted, assisted by Am. troops who landed under unauthorized orders of expansionist Am. minister
d) Hawaii seemed ready for annexation
i) Treaty to sent to WA, but Cleveland came in as Pres. & withdrew it in 1893, sending investigator in HI
(1) Revealed that most Hawaiians didn’t want annexation
ii) Question of annexation abandoned until 1898
(1) Touched off 1st full-fledged imperialistic debate in Am. experience
(2) Cleveland’s motives were honorable
5) Cubans Rise in Revolt
a) Cuba’s masses rose against their Spanish oppressor in 1895
i) Roots were partly economic, with partial origin in U.S.
(1) Sugar production crippled when Am. tariff of 1894 restored high duties on it
b) Insurgents adopted scorched-earth policy: If they did enough damage, Spain might move out. Or U.S. might move in to help free Cubans.
i) Insurrectos torched canefields & sugar mines, dynamited passenger trains
c) Am. sympathized with Cubans
i) Also had investment stake of $50 mill. in Cuba & annual trade stake of $100 mill.
ii) Spanish misrule in Cuba menaced shipping routes of West Indies & Gulf of Mexico, & future isthmian canal
d) Fuel was added to conflagration in 1896 with the coming of Spanish general (“Butcher”) Weyler
i) Crushed rebellion by herding civilians into reconcentration camps
e) Am. public demanded action. Congress in 1896 passed resolution that called upon Pres. Cleveland to recognize belligerency of Cubans
i) Cleveland refused to budge…vowed if Congress declared war, he wouldn’t issue necessary order to mobilize army
6) The Mystery of the Maine Explosion
a) Yellow journalism—Hearst & Pulitzer published exaggerated tales of Cuba
i) Invented atrocity stories, furnished paintings of scenes
ii) Most readers oblivious
iii) Weyler was removed in 1897, but conditions worsened.
iv) Talk in Spain of granting Cuba self-gov’t, but opposed by Spaniards on Cuba: riots
v) 1898—WA sent battleship Maine to Cuba to protect and evacuate Americans if dangerous flare-up should occur.
vi) Feb. 9 1898—Hearst sensationally headlined private letter written by Spanish minister in WA, Dupuy de Lôme. Described McKinley as ear-to-ground politician. Result: Uproar, Dupuy resigned.
vii) Feb. 15 1898—Maine blew up in Havana Harbor. 2 investigations:
(1) U.S. naval officers: caused by submarine mine
(2) Spanish officials: explosion had been internal and presumably accidental
viii) Theories
(1) Least convincing: Spanish officials guilty (under American gun, Span was far away)
(2) 1976—Rickover found evidence of spontaneous combustion in a coal bunker (what Spain had deduced in 1898)
ix) Americans (1898) accepted least likely explanation, war-mad
7) McKinley Unleashes the Dogs of War
a) War fever ↑ even though Am. diplomats had gained Madrid’s agreement to WA’s 2 basic commands: 1) End to reconcentration camps 2) Armistice with Cuban rebels
b) McKinley didn’t want hostilities (criticized as weak)
i) Private desires clashed sharply with opinions now popular with the public
(1) Didn’t want hostilities (enough blood seen in Civil War)
(2) WA & Hanna didn’t want war (business might be unsettled)
(3) Public clamored for war
ii) McKinley finally yielded to public
(1) No faith in Spain’s promises regarding Cuba
(2) Believed in Democracy for Cubans
(3) Please American people
(4) If stood out, Democrats would make political capital out of his stubbornness
(5) Staunch party man (better to break up Spain’s empire than break up the Rep. Party)
iii) April 11, 1898—McKinley sent war message to Congress, urging armed intervention to free the Cubans
iv) Congress declared war & Teller Amendment—when U.S. had overthrown Spanish misrule, it would give Cubans their freedom
